RELATED ARTICLES

Share this article

Amy was rushed back two days later on Christmas Eve where she then suffered four heart attacks and multiple organ failure.

She died at 3pm in front of her heartbroken parents and sister Samantha, 21, who watched helplessly as repeated resuscitation attempts failed.

Amy Carter was told to get plenty of rest and take paracetamol when she became ill in December 2009

An inquest in July 2010 heard the teenager had developed a lethal combination of conditions

An inquest in July 2010 heard the teenager had developed a lethal combination of conditions never before seen in a patient.

Yesterday, Richard and wife Jacqueline Carter, 52, received a 'substantial' out of court settlement from Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust.

The parents, who run pet shops across Worcestershire, slammed bungling NHS doctors for letting their daughter down.

They said they were still angry bosses had refused to make an admissions of formal liability despite accepting that if Amy had not been discharged, she would probably have survived.

Pictured: Amy Carter, 15, on the day she was released from Worcestershire Royal Hospital on the December 21

Mr Carter said they were disappointed they had not received an apology from the Trust.

He added: 'Our family has been utterly devastated at losing Amy, we have really struggled to come to terms with what has happened.

'We feel that the treatment Amy received at hospital fell well below acceptable standards.

'You beat yourself up. As parents you feel I should have been responsible for her but you trust the doctors.

'On reflection now this is what we now beat ourselves up about, we think we should have insisted.

'But at the time you don’t think you can, we presumed she was on the right side of it and would get better and trusted the doctors.

Richard Carter, 48 is pictured with his wife Jacqueline, 52 and their daughter Samantha, 21, at their home

'Our outlook on life is totally different, that’s what it does to you. They will just carry on and we are left to pick up the pieces.

'We put our faith into the clinicians that were looking after her in hospital and now we have to live with the guilt of thinking we could have done more to save her life.

'We have been fighting for justice for Amy ever since she died and the settlement from the Trust marks the end of a long legal battle.

'However, we are bitterly disappointed that they didn’t fully accept any responsibility for what happened to our daughter and were unable to provide us with any detailed explanation of what went wrong.

Close: Amy Carter pictured with her father Richard before she became ill and died

Photo taken from a Facebook tribute page for Amy Carter (right) who died after suffering several heart attacks

'Without this information, the reality is that we have no faith that the same tragedy can never be repeated.

'Our lives have been turned upside down since 2009 and as a family we no longer celebrate Christmas as it marks the anniversary of us losing Amy.

'We hope that through Amy’s case lessons are learnt by medical staff in recognising when patients need further treatment rather than being sent home in the hope no other family has to go through what we have.'

Medical experts at Irwin Mitchell lawyers who represented the family found that Amy should not have been discharged on December 21, 2009.

Richard Carter, 48 is pictured with his wife Jacqueline, 52, have received a payout after their daughter died

They discovered the bacterial condition she developed as a complication of a serious episode of glandular fever would have been spotted if she had remained in hospital.

Instead she was allowed home and an overwhelming amount of bacteria entered her bloodstream causing septicaemia which resulted in a rapid deterioration and Amy developing multi-organ failure.

But medical experts found hospital staff sent Amy home despite her parents raising concerns that she was unable to walk because she was so weak.

She had also lost over half a stone in weight, was suffering from a high temperature and had developed a widespread rash over her body.

Amy's family were given 'substantial' settlement from Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust

Mrs Carter said she was in 'disbelief' when Amy was allowed home because her daughter had asked doctors if she was going to die just a day earlier.

She added: 'I was shocked because I was thinking how am I going to treat her when we get home.

'It was just disbelief. Considering the condition she was in, we did not expect her to go home. 'She couldn’t eat or drink.

'She had asked if she was going to die just the day before she was let home, that’s how bad she felt'

Mrs Carter, Amy's mother

'We were concerned she hadn’t improved, she had got worse if anything. She was dismissed in the morning but we didn’t go home until the evening.

'I was going to the nurses telling them that the rash was still vibrant and she was having difficulty breathing.

'She had asked if she was going to die just the day before she was let home, that’s how bad she felt.'

'Thomas Riis-Bristow, a medical law and patient’s rights lawyer at Irwin Mitchell, added: 'Ever since Amy’s death the family have been desperate for answers about whether more could have been done to save her.

'They are disappointed that the Trust has made no formal admission of liability, despite accepting that if Amy had not been discharged, she would have survived.

'Nothing can turn back the clock, but the settlement at the very least, marks the conclusion of the family’s long legal battle to secure justice for Amy’s memory.

'We hope that any shortcomings the Trust found in its own internal investigation into the treatment given to Amy are improved to prevent any future deaths in similar circumstances.'